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Boys Regain the Advantage in Middle School STEM Skills: Post-COVID Trends in Gender Achievement Gaps. Brief

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Title: Boys Regain the Advantage in Middle School STEM Skills: Post-COVID Trends in Gender Achievement Gaps. Brief
Language: English
Authors: Megan Kuhfeld, Karyn Lewis, Gus Robinson, NWEA
Source: NWEA. 2025.
Availability: NWEA. 121 NW Everett Street, Portland, OR 97209. Tel: 503-624-1951; Fax: 503-639-7873; Web site: http://nwea.org
Peer Reviewed: N
Page Count: 8
Publication Date: 2025
Document Type: Reports - Evaluative
Education Level: Junior High Schools
Middle Schools
Secondary Education
Elementary Education
Grade 8
Postsecondary Education
Descriptors: Middle School Students, STEM Education, Gender Differences, Achievement Gap, Equal Education, COVID-19, Pandemics, Grade 8, Trend Analysis, Algebra, Postsecondary Education, Reading Achievement, Mathematics Achievement, Science Achievement, Foreign Countries
Geographic Terms: Australia, United Kingdom (England), New Zealand, United States
Assessment and Survey Identifiers: Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study, National Assessment of Educational Progress, Measures of Academic Progress
Abstract: In the last two decades, the US has made remarkable strides in closing long-standing gender inequities in academic achievement in STEM (science, technology, engineering, and math) fields. However, new data suggest these hard-won gains may be unraveling. During the COVID-19 pandemic, girls showed substantially larger declines in math and science (both in the US and globally). The STEM gender gaps that took a decade or more to close were reopened in just a few years. While the TIMSS results provide an important signal, they raise additional questions. Relying on a single assessment given every four years obscures when these setbacks began, whether this pattern holds equally among low- and high-achieving students, and whether similar trends play out across other key indicators of STEM education (e.g., course enrollments). To better understand how STEM gender gaps have evolved during and after the pandemic, the authors first used five years of data from three national assessments (TIMSS, the National Assessment of Educational Progress [NAEP], and the MAP® Growth™ assessment from NWEA®) to estimate trends in gender gaps in eighth grade over the course of the COVID-19 pandemic. Second, they used MAP Growth data from approximately two million students to examine whether gender gaps also widened among low- and high-achieving students. Finally, given the importance of enrolling in algebra by eighth grade for students' post-secondary enrollment, the authors examined whether enrollment in algebra in eighth grade differed by gender over the course of the COVID-19 pandemic within a sample of 1,300 schools. Together, these analyses paint a more complete picture of how the pandemic has reshaped the gender landscape in STEM education and where recovery efforts may need to focus.
Abstractor: ERIC
Entry Date: 2025
Accession Number: ED675250
Database: ERIC
FullText Text:
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  Data: Boys Regain the Advantage in Middle School STEM Skills: Post-COVID Trends in Gender Achievement Gaps. Brief
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  Data: NWEA. 121 NW Everett Street, Portland, OR 97209. Tel: 503-624-1951; Fax: 503-639-7873; Web site: http://nwea.org
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  Data: <searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Australia%22">Australia</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22United+Kingdom+%28England%29%22">United Kingdom (England)</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22New+Zealand%22">New Zealand</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22United+States%22">United States</searchLink>
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  Data: In the last two decades, the US has made remarkable strides in closing long-standing gender inequities in academic achievement in STEM (science, technology, engineering, and math) fields. However, new data suggest these hard-won gains may be unraveling. During the COVID-19 pandemic, girls showed substantially larger declines in math and science (both in the US and globally). The STEM gender gaps that took a decade or more to close were reopened in just a few years. While the TIMSS results provide an important signal, they raise additional questions. Relying on a single assessment given every four years obscures when these setbacks began, whether this pattern holds equally among low- and high-achieving students, and whether similar trends play out across other key indicators of STEM education (e.g., course enrollments). To better understand how STEM gender gaps have evolved during and after the pandemic, the authors first used five years of data from three national assessments (TIMSS, the National Assessment of Educational Progress [NAEP], and the MAP® Growth™ assessment from NWEA®) to estimate trends in gender gaps in eighth grade over the course of the COVID-19 pandemic. Second, they used MAP Growth data from approximately two million students to examine whether gender gaps also widened among low- and high-achieving students. Finally, given the importance of enrolling in algebra by eighth grade for students' post-secondary enrollment, the authors examined whether enrollment in algebra in eighth grade differed by gender over the course of the COVID-19 pandemic within a sample of 1,300 schools. Together, these analyses paint a more complete picture of how the pandemic has reshaped the gender landscape in STEM education and where recovery efforts may need to focus.
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    Languages:
      – Text: English
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        PageCount: 8
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      – SubjectFull: Middle School Students
        Type: general
      – SubjectFull: STEM Education
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      – SubjectFull: Gender Differences
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      – SubjectFull: Grade 8
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      – SubjectFull: Trend Analysis
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      – SubjectFull: Algebra
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      – SubjectFull: Postsecondary Education
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      – SubjectFull: Reading Achievement
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      – TitleFull: Boys Regain the Advantage in Middle School STEM Skills: Post-COVID Trends in Gender Achievement Gaps. Brief
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